Semiconductor chips include contact pads on one or more surfaces. Semiconductor packages include one or more of the chips encapsulated in an insulating material. Electrical connections are made to the contact pads of the chip to electrically connect the semiconductor package.
The contact pads of the chips are generally small. For example, some contact pads are square having a side dimension of about 60 micrometers. It is time consuming (and thus expensive) to accurately form through-holes (or vias) that communicate with the contact pads when making Z-direction electrical connections in the semiconductor package.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.